Letter: Stop pay raise for shameful Congress

Members answer to the designation “The Honorable ... .” What is honorable about what they did and didn’t do recently?

Once upon a time people did their jobs or they were written up or fired. Where I come from, co-workers don’t need to like each other — they only need to work together effectively with common courtesy, civility and self-respect. Not so these people.

They get long vacations, and enjoy shortened work weeks. They get to use work time to solicit campaign contributors secretly and hobnob with them, something once deemed as a conflict of interest.

They get to “stump” out of state for cronies running out of state. They get to avoid casting votes by choosing not to show up, or vote based on party-allegiance only — wrong or right.

They get paid sick time off with extraordinary health coverage — for life. And they don’t need to grovel.

And how about the individuals serving in Congress who are active alcoholics and addicts, incapable of doing their jobs and making sound decisions? The law of averages assures us that some of them are being kept in place.

Where is oversight protection when sound, crucial decisions and votes are necessary for us and the country?

A pay raise? Seriously? How about “No work — Zero pay”?

I see that some in Congress are speaking out against a pay increase scheduled for March, but only on the grounds that our economy is “still fragile.”

I say that President Barack Obama must roll back this financial flub based on the need to prevent rewarding all the very bad, rude, uncivil, disrespectful, unproductive, dysfunctional behavior.

Change your ways, Congress. Only then should a wage increase be in your future.